In the world of community journalism, good stories can be hard to come by. Each week, there’s another oversized check donated, another Rotarian or Kiwanis luncheon, another senior citizen craft festival, the church wingding. You get the picture. But every so often, an intrepid community news journalist stumbles upon a real barn-burner.
Such was the case recently when the Times Free Press’ Weekly Community News managed to locate a Hixson couple who, quite shockingly, continue to decorate their home for the holidays—every year!
Reporter Katie Ward attempted to cleverly cloak this otherwise mundane occurrence in the context that the “magic of Christmas can fade for adults as they age,” but not for Zella Dixon. This zesty 79-year-old literally drowns her Valleybrook home in what Ward describes as an indoor winter wonderland. “I love Christmas,” Dixon was quoted in the article, defying Ward’s assertion that old folks give up on turning their homes in holiday theme parks.
We’ve truly come to depend on the Weekly Community News to provide the in-depth community coverage we so desperately crave—plus it’s free!
Without the WCN, we’d have never known about the surprisingly tacky home of Sherwin and Zella Dixon, nor could we ably keep track of the Soddy-Daisy Goat Wars or, indeed, the 19-year-old undercover “hottie” (our term) who has been stinging Red Bank stores who continue to sell her beer even after they know her age.
We salute you, Weekly Commuity News.